Intentions to Marry, 1877

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840389, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, April 16 2025

Page 603

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1877 Registrar Matterson

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
4479	03 April 1877	Daniel Swan Mary Ann Hawkins	Daniel Swan Mary Ann Hawkins 💍 1877/1429	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	22 20	Waltham Waltham	2 years 1 month	In the house Opawa	77/1349	There is [illegible] having authority to consent	03 April 1877	Rev. S. J. Chesterman leff
4480	03 April 1877	Jacques Denham Selina Thomas	James Denham Selina Thomas 💍 1877/2649	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	25 24	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 3 weeks	In the house of Mr Fraser	77/2639		03 April 1877	Rev. C. Fraser Pris
4481	03 April 1877	Henry Rushton Mary Ann Robinson		Widower Spinster	Gardener	47 32	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 26 years	St Michael's Church	77/3053		03 April 1877	Rev. S. S. Penny leff
4482	04 April 1877	Henry Little Martha Eliza Kent	Henry Little Martha Eliza Kent 💍 1877/1113	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor	25 19	Christchurch Christchurch	14 years 3 years	In the Registrar's Office	77/1034	There is [illegible] authority to consent	04 April 1877	Registrar of Marriages Masterson
4483	05 April 1877	Charles Frederick Henry Eva Ann Bennetts	Charles Frederick Henry Eva Anne Bennetts 💍 1877/1449	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	28 24	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 3 years	St John's Church	77/1345		05 April 1877	Rutt. C. M. Watson leff
4484	06 April 1877	Hilton East Faulk Margaret Kelley Spencer	Hinton East Daniell Margaret Kalley Spencer 💍 1877/1114	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper	24 25	Christchurch Christchurch	13 years 6 years	In the Registrar's Office	77/1035		06 April 1877	Registrar of Marriages Masterson
4485	09 April 1877	James Hyall Mary White	James Lyall Mary White 💍 1877/2638	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 25	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 5 days	In the house of Mr. Johnston	77/2638		09 April 1877	Rev. E. Fraser
4486	09 April 1877	Henry French Elizabeth May Ann Kitcherside	Henry Flavel Elizabeth Mary Ann Kitchenside 💍 1877/1107	Bachelor Spinster	Plumber Servant	22 19	Christchurch Woolston	22 years 2 years	Wesleyan Church	77/1010	There is [illegible] authority to consent	09 April 1877	Rev. W. Neale
4487	10 April 1877	William Young Catherine Kearney	William Young Catherine Kearney 💍 1877/1405	Bachelor Spinster	Drain Pipe Maker Servant	25 25	Opawa Opawa	18 months 18 months	Roman Catholic Church	77/1355		10 April 1877	Rev. S. P. Chereyne
4488	10 April 1877	Harry Seath Ellen Elizabeth Shirtcliff	Henry Scott Ellen Elizabeth Shirtcliff 💍 1877/1287	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 18	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 5 years	Riccarton	77/1236	John Shirtcliff, Father	10 April 1877	Rev. F. A. Hare leff
4489	13 April 1877	Beabazon Tooke Hallowes Harriet Amelia Porter	Brabazon Tooke Hallowes Harriet Amelia Porter 💍 1877/3111	Bachelor Spinster	Clergyman	26 39	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 3 days	Congregational Church	77/1239		13 April 1877	Rev. W. J. Habens

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1899. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).